


Riley's Game

by BastRavenshadow



Category: National Treasure (2004)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-15
Updated: 2015-06-15
Packaged: 2018-04-04 12:28:26
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 655
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4137561
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BastRavenshadow/pseuds/BastRavenshadow
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Ben Franklin once said, ‘One good Husband is worth two good Wives; for the scarcer things are, the more they're valued'."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Riley's Game

**Author's Note:**

> Posted to the Minority Pairings Community on LJ in 2006, was previously available on my now defunct website.

Riley Poole stepped up to the door, intending to knock – he really did. But when he heard Abigail's raised voice he paused to listen. 

"You care more about him than me, Ben! I thought we had a future together, a life!"

Riley backed up, right into Patrick Gates. Anxiously, he twisted himself around and looked at the older man. "Um… sorry."

Patrick shook his head at the shouting going on inside the hotel room. "Come on, Riley. Let's go have a drink."

++++

Riley fiddled with his straw whilst Patrick sipped his whiskey. 

"They fight like that often?" the old man asked in a tired voice.

"Yeah," Riley muttered. "I used to think she was hot, but…" Riley shrugged. "Since they talked about getting married, well…."

"I had half hoped Ben was settling down," Patrick said with a sigh. "But," he lifted his eyes to meet Riley's, "if I was Ben, I'd go out for a pack of smokes and never come back."

Riley's laughter burst out of him and he nodded, grinning at Ben's father. "I would too."

++++

Riley yawned and shut down his laptop, stretching as he stood. "Mmm." Just then, he heard a light knock on his door and he stepped over the computer cords and wires to peek out of the peephole. He fumbled with the door and got it open just as Ben was walking away. "Ben!" he whispered loudly. 

Ben turned and looked at him for a minute, then came back to Riley's room. "Hey. Sorry I woke you."

Riley shook his head. "No, I was just working on the – never mind. What's up?"

"Can I come in?"

Riley stepped back and gestured Ben into his room. "Watch out for the cords."

"Yeah, okay." 

"She know you're here?"

"No."

Silently, they regarded each other and then Riley asked, his mouth twisting around the words, "Are you really going to marry her?" Ben hesitated and Riley shook his head. "Ben…" 

Ben turned away from Riley and walked over to the window, looking out at the skylight. "We share so many of the same things, Riley." He paused. "But sometimes it seems like she's playing a game."

"That doesn't mean you have to marry her, Ben!" Riley exclaimed, going to stand next to his friend. 

"I've made promises," Ben said, leaning his forehead against the cool glass.

"You've made promises to me too," Riley said quietly, putting his hand on Ben's back. "Remember me?"

Ben looked at him and the corner of his mouth quirked up. "Yeah, I remember you."

"Good. Come to bed," he coaxed, slipping Ben's blazer off. "You did good tonight. Big crowd."

Ben smiled then, and the tired, worn look faded from his eyes. "Yeah, it was a good crowd."

Riley stepped up and began unbuttoning Ben's white dress shirt. "Abigail sees the historian, Ben. I see the man."

Ben watched quietly as Riley undressed him and then slipped off his own pyjama bottoms and t-shirt. He followed Ben down onto the bed and they began to kiss, their arms around each other as they lay together. 

Afterwards, as they lay together under the soft sheets in the king-sized bed, Riley murmured, "I'm playing a game too, Ben."

Ben looked at him sharply and Riley half-smiled.

"The name of Riley's game is ‘Lure Ben Gates away from Abigail Chase'."

Ben smiled then and rolled to his side. "She doesn't like you."

Riley shrugged. "And you? What are you going to do?"

Ben gently stroked Riley's chest with his fingertips. "Ben Franklin once said, ‘One good Husband is worth two good Wives; for the scarcer things are, the more they're valued'."

Riley stared at him. Then he grinned. "Are you asking me to run off with you, Ben?"

"We could," Ben said quietly. "If you think you could care about the historian and the man."

"I have." Riley paused. "I can." Then, quietly, lacing their fingers together, "I do."


End file.
